Cairns Netball centres Flint and Kadlecek to face-off in eliminator

Two of Cairns Netball’s best centres will throwdown as one of the league’s oldest rivalries clash on Wednesday night, with a spot in the grand final on the line.

Leprechauns centre Hannah Flint has returned from Melbourne wiser and fiercer on the court as one of her side’s key pieces in their quality season.

The 22-year-old completed her studies in medical imaging at Deakin University in 2020, coming back to the Far North - and the netball court - at the beginning of this year.

“It’s great to be back with this bunch of girls,” Flint said.

“There’s a few of us who stopped playing around 2016 and 17 to take some time off.

“I don’t know whether it was the Covid break from sport but we all just came back to it and it was like we never left.”

Hannah Flint in action for the Leps in the Cairns Netball Division 1. Picture: Brendan Radke

Leprechauns coach Kym McPhee-Smith said Flint’s return to the team had been a huge boost to the club.

“She’s just very dominant, she’s very strong and we need her in that middle there because she gives us a lot of guts,” she said.

Flint’s sporting prowess isn’t just limited to one code either, playing Aussie rule for the North Cairns Tigers.

“It was a good perspective to play the two games; they worked with each other really, especially in terms of match fitness,” she said.

The Leps finished second on the Cairns Netball ladder behind the red-hot Phoenix Fierce with a 12-3-1 record.

Covid lockdowns in Melbourne meant Flint went without netball last year, further spurring her on to stand out in 2021.

“There were a few rocky stages there in the season where we had quite a few girls out with injury,” she said.

“This game really will mean a lot to us and we hope to take it through to the grand final.

“The last time we won a grand final was in 2015, so we really want to get our name back out there at the top.”

Michaela Kadlecek. Picture: Brendan Radke

Despite beating the Fierce twice this season, the Leprechauns lost two games and drew one against their upcoming preliminary finals opponent, the third-placed Sharks.

The Sharks also boast a top centre in the form of Northern Mendi Rays’ Michaela Kadlecek.

“Micky is such a quality player … I thought last time we met, Hannah did a really well on Michaela,” McPhee-Smith said.

“It’ll be really interesting to see how they go toe-to-toe because neither of them give an inch, I think it’ll be a battle between those two centres really.”

Flint agreed, adding the match would be akin to a grand final in terms of the ferocity of the competition.

“I really think it’ll be one-to-one and will come down to the final buzzer,” she said.

The Leps and Sharks will do face one another at the Martyn St courts at 7.40pm on Wednesday.

The Cairns Post will livestream the Cairns Netball grand finals on Wednesday, September 15.

Originally published as Cairns Netball centres Flint and Kadlecek to face-off in eliminator